Tonight's shift was a "freebie"--I picked up for a friend, and considering it's a Tuesday, I didn't expect to make much money...$70 later I'm glad I could help. :)
People were weird tonight, and I wondered, at one point, if I was whispering because no one seemed to hear me all night. But then again, people were just weird too...it is a full moon...
This one table, a 40-something couple, orders two burgers. I usually don't ask what temp because I figure they'll tell me otherwise. The woman orders her burger, then the man. He requests that his burger be cooked medium rare. At that, I did check with the woman, to which she asked for medium. I said, "Alright, that's our standard temp." The man, looked at me wide-eyed and cupped his ear, "Did you just say 'They're pretty much the same'??" Of course I did NOT say that medium and medium rare is the same because that's just idiodic. "No, sir..." and I repeated my statement. Why would I say something like that?? I guess some have...who knows.
Oh, I had this other guy--he and his wife and daughter are regulars in our establishment. The guy is kinda loud and brash at times, but his wife makes up for it with kindness and patience. Their daughter is surprisingly well-behaved, so somehow, it balances out. Well, just to preface, tonight we were out of linens, which we use to wrap tortillas with, so the kitchen was forced to use wax paper. When I came to check-back, the man says "What dingbat thought of using wax paper??" To which I replied, "Well, sir, when we run out of linens, we have to get creative. Sorry for the inconvenience." That shut him up, and his cute, passive wife just snickered. I heard her say as I walked away, "I told you there was a good explanation for it..." Teehee. What a douchebag.
Tonight was a short shift with a fun crew. Positive, light, and easy. Nice. It's about time. :)
Double tomorrow.
3 comments:
I love the blog! Just found it today.
The entry about 'you can tell everything' is so true. In fact, I called my cheap-o husband at work and told him about it. I ride his ass all the time about tipping well when we go out, now he just hands the card to me and doesn't say a word.
Thanks Jaime! Don't worry, I have plenty more opinions to give! Happy Reading!
I heart your blog! I've been in the 'biz for 20 years now...I've graduated college, have had "real" jobs, am a published author...basically, I've accomplished everything I needed to accomplish in order to quit waiting tables, tending bar,and unfortunately managing on occasion, but I can't leave! I love the hospitality industry. It's easy money in comparison to working for the man, for sure. In contrast, it's the most difficult profession to master. In much the same way that a writer could be an attorney but an attorney could not necessarily be a writer, a server could be an attorney but an attorney would have a nervous breakdown trading places. They'd be all, "why do people keep bumping in to me? Why do you people say "sorry" every 5 seconds..." I'm proud of my "career" in food service and I never get tired of the atmosphere. I have never, ever developed a close friendship with a boring "citizen" in an office, but all of the most interesting, closest friends I have, I have met in restaurants.
I also look much younger than my mid-to-late thirty-something peers because I'm not sitting on my duff 40 hours a week, and I don't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn. I enjoy my beauty sleep and I enjoy working with people much younger than myself because it keeps me in touch.
Now for a tiny tip: ever since I started closing with, "folks, I know you could have gone any place tonight, so I want to thank you for choosing "insert restaurant name," my tips have absolutely soared! At first I thought it was my imagination, so I experimented by not saying it one night and then going back to saying it. When I don't say it, my tip average, according to my report, hover around 19%. When I use this phrase, they are around 23%! This is huge! One night last week, I even scored a 29% tip average! This method makes your flunkie manager look like a whip-cracking genius, and makes you seem very vulnerable and sincere. Everybody wins!
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